ELON, N.C. — Kathy Goodwin was walking around her front yard doing chores when she noticed a problem. One problem became two and then three. Before long, she discovered a lot of problems.
“I would look and see one and then another and another,” Goodwin said.
Her driveway was cracking in several spots. Yet, she just paid a person to seal the cracks and put an epoxy topcoat on the driveway.
“It looked great for two weeks and then I started seeing (cracks) like you see today,” Goodwin said.
The cracks were new but also old. It appeared to Goodwin that the epoxy coat was cracking in some of the same spots that were sealed and then covered. New cracks were also popping up.
“There were a lot of cracks,” Goodwin said.
A couple of days after Goodwin noticed the cracks, she contacted Absolute Epoxy which is the company that did the work. Goodwin told News 2 the owner told her he would come back out and fix the problem.
“He would say he was going to come and then promise me he’d show up but then not show,” Goodwin said.
Eventually, calls went unanswered and it became clear he wasn’t going to repair the job. Goodwin’s neighbor was in the same predicament as Absolute Epoxy put a similar topcoat on her driveway, which was chipping and cracking.
“It’s embarrassing,” Wendy Carter said.
After a couple of months of no contact, Goodwin reached out to News 2 for help. We immediately called Absolute Epoxy and did speak with the owner. He also promised to get back out to both homes and fix the cracks.
After a few weeks, we called again, and it quickly became a pattern. He would promise to go repair the driveways and then come up with an excuse as to why he didn’t show up to do the work.
We spoke to the owner on at least five different occasions during a six-month window, but he never went to finish the job after always promising to go out to the homes.
It’s unclear if Absolute Epoxy is still in business. A recent call had the phone number disconnected. Goodwin and Carter are most likely going to have to file a complaint and seek damages in small claims court.
The issue however is that the owner would have to be served and finding him may be difficult.
The frustrating part in all of this is that both women did what we often suggest. Get a signed contract from the company that clearly states what is being done and how much the job costs. Don’t pay all the money until the work is complete and inspect the job before making a final payment.
The problem, in this case, is that the cracks and chipping didn’t appear for a few weeks after the job was complete. The one thing you can do when hiring a contractor is pay with a credit card. It might cost more but sometimes the credit card company will assist you in getting the money refunded if the work is bad.
It’s also a good idea to do a thorough review of the company before hiring them and check with some references. You can also go on the BBB website to see if they are registered and have any complaints.